Hi All After nearly 6 years on IM, it's a bit late to post this question, but I wonder what anyone else does with the timing of IM. I take mine after my main meal - 7.00pm. However, sometimes we are out for lunch which means I take the IM at the normal time in early evening. Obviously this is not immediately after my main meal of the day and I'm usually too full to eat again. I asked a doctor at the clinic and she thought it was OK as my stomach would not be empty. What do you do in this situation? Hope all are well, Best Chrissie
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Timing for Imatinib
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Hi Chrissie,
I would have thought there would be little food left in your stomach by 7pm if your lunchtime meal was at say 2pm? that means a gap of 5 hours. Not sure if these times are correct for you but I have always been under the impression that 2 hours after any meal is enough to expect you have digested it all.
When you take your TKI at 7pm after you have had your lunch time meal and nothing else to eat since- do you experience any nausea or sickness? This is the key really as imatinib does cause some people to vomit if there is little food in the stomach.
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Thanks for your reply. No to your question. No nausea at all. Maybe because after a roast dinner at 2.00pm which is as late as they serve it I am pretty stuffed! I'm interested to see what others do as I can't be the only one who usually eats in the evening but enjoys a pub lunch from time to time. When I was on 400mgs before DESTINY I used to eat a piece of cheddar before taking IM at the usual evening time which seemed to do the trick. My doc said ages ago that the fat in cheese can help prevent nausea and it seems to work with me.
best
Chrissie
Due to the side effects experienced with Imatinib, I always take the tablet the last thing at night before I go to sleep. I found that by doing this the side effects are much easier to cope with.
In my case, I had real problems with nausea to begin with, even being really quite sick on a couple of occasions - it was the worst nausea ever. What I found worked for me was taking imatinib a little after - not during - a reasonable meal (i.e. not a snack). I too preferred to take it in the evening, mainly in case I did get nausea but also because certain side effects were easier to manage at night. If I had had a major meal at lunch I would certainly have to eat again in the evening - which could at times be a bit of a chore - or I was bound to be nauseous. Once I got the timing right however, the problem went away.
Now I am on DESTINY, nausea ceased to be an issue on half dose (I could skimp on the meal and have more of a snack). And the freedom in the last month of not having to eat just because of imatinib (I have now stopped imatinib) is one the best things about the trial for me! That probably sounds bizarre but it's true..
When on 400mg daily, I split the pill in half and had half after breakfast and half after evening meal. That greatly reduced side effects and my PCR test results stayed at just above undetectable for 7 years. I am now on 300mg which I take 100mg after breakfast and 200mg after evening meal and it is still working.